Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 21: The International Mother Tongue Day was celebrated with gaiety and in a grand manner by Dogri Sanstha at Dogri Bhawan, here today.
On this occasion, multiple programs were held which included – a seminar on the importance of Mother Tongue in education & culture, a day-long Dogri book-exhibition and release of a children novel, authored by Gianeshwar.
Anuradha Gupta, Director of School Education Jammu was the chief guest in the function. The other highlights of this celebration were the participation of the Dogri teachers working in various colleges of Jammu region, presentation of a set of Nami Chetna, the quarterly literary magazine published by Dogri Sanstha to each of the participants along with a set of the Calendars for the year 2021, also published by Dogri Sanstha.
In her address, Anuradha Gupta said that there is no doubt that mother tongues must be protected and promoted as these are the carrier of culture and social values of a community. She stressed that the Dogras must speak Dogri with their children and encourage them to speak in this sweet language.
She said if we want that Dogri should progress and flourish in future then we must connect it to new technology. Further the technical terminology of various subjects and areas must be adopted and appropriately translated in to Dogri, she said and shared that the Directorate of Education is taking various steps for popularizing Dogri, especially in light of the new education policy.
Prof Lalit Magotra, President of Dogri Sanstha, lamented that mother tongues have not been given the importance in our country which they deserve. He pointed out that the number of teachers at school level in Dogri should be more than the number of teachers at college level, but ironically, the situation is exactly the opposite. He opined that this is a great hindrance in the development of Dogri language.
The three papers presented in the seminar by Dr Joginder Singh, Babu Bhatti and Dr Ashok Khajuria covered various aspects of the impact of mother tongue in education and culture.
The novel for children ‘Kheden Kheden Ch’ by Gianeshwar, which was released in the function is an interesting and inspiring piece of literature.
Proceedings of the seminar were conducted by Dr Chanchal Bhasin while Gianeshwar Sharma presented the vote of thanks.
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